I’ve been looking for years, but I just haven’t found the one. Gregory was nice, but I was always looking around for something better. You know what I mean…the one you want to have with you on every adventure? So perfect you never wonder what it would be like with that one over there?

When I was at the SIA Snow Show in January, my husband and I dropped by the Giro booth and came away with a few pairs of sunglasses to try. Now I’m a bit of a Luddite when it comes to sunglasses. To me, sunglasses are sunglasses — they keep the sun out of my eyes, and I don’t need high tech to accomplish that, especially because I’m never impressed with higher priced models. They must be cute, but they don’t need to be much more.

Cute these sunglasses were, but what really caught my eye about these was that the lenses weren’t just any molded plastic lenses, they are made by Zeiss. I work in the aerospace industry, and when we want high precision optics, one of the few companies we go to is Zeiss. I was surprised to see them making sunglasses, and I was very curious to see how they worked.

When we got outside, we both put on our new shades and simultaneously said “wow!” The lenses were so clear that it seemed like we were just looking at a darker version of the world, not the usual distorted view you get from the cheapos I wear, and noticeably better than expensive ones I’ve tried. I’ve been wearing them nonstop since, and I’m still impressed.

I have one minor complaint about the model I got (Coy): they tend to fog up a little when I’m even mildly active. Even just walking the dog can cause fogging, but it’s not enough that I’ll stop using them.

In one of the most stirring descents in Olympic downhill skiing history, Vonn ignored the pain in her injured shin, chased down [Julie] Mancuso and caught up to nearly a lifetime of expectations to become the first American woman to win an Olympic downhill gold medal. With an aggressive style and stance she held throughout her run — jaw, hands, knees and hips always angling forward for more speed — Vonn’s time of 1 minute and 44.19 seconds on the bumpy, treacherous Whistler race course was 0.56 of a second ahead of Mancuso. Elisabeth Görgl of Austria won the bronze medal.

Despite a bumpy, nasty course and an injured leg, she stills shreds the mountain and wins gold. Way to be a true champ. Go kick more ass, Lindsey.

Among the gear we demo’ed last Monday at the SIA demo day at Winter Park were the Tecnica Dragon 120 HiPerFit ski boots. I was skeptical about the claims of the rep that these would be a comfortable performance boot, but his claims bore out on the slopes.

The Dragon 120s were immediately more comfortable than my regular boots—snug and secure without any excess pressure or hot spots. Built on a 100mm last, the toe box was snug but comfortable and I developed a little numbness after a few runs, but a slight adjustment to a few buckles fixed that. What was wonderful, though, was the secure seating of my heal with no need to crank the buckles and no need to readjust. I skied 12 runs in the Dragon 120s with only the one adjustment for numbness, and it was like they’d been made for my feet.

A little while back, I wrote a review of the Giro Manifest goggles that I invested in for the ‘08/’09 season and I wasn’t totally complimentary. In short: I liked most things about the goggle except that I was having endless problems with them fogging and frosting.

So I stopped by the Giro booth at SIA on Sunday and spoke to Eric Richter about my issues, and his answer was: the G10 helmet might not be the right match for my Manifest goggles. In particular, Giro’s newer helmets now incorporate a stack vent—a vent right at the front of the helmet that gives the goggles someplace to vent. For men, this includes the Seam and Revolver helmets and in ‘10/’11 Giro will be introducing a bunch of additional helmets for men and women which incorporate a stack vent.

The hat is called the Seirus. It’s an interesting take on the standard trapper hat, which were on display in abundance this year. It’s also attached to one of the most beautiful women I’ve ever seen. I recommend you track these hats down like they’re made of gold and beer, because they work on so many levels :

1) If you’re a girl, this hat will make you hotter by a factor of 3.

2) If you’re a guy, this is the perfect gift for someone out of your league.

3) If this girl and I are going to live together forever, she’ll need to continue modeling, because this blogging gig really does not pay as well as you think it would. And I think we can all agree that none of us set THAT bar very high in the first place.

Revolution was in the air, and you could taste the tension with every breath. Lifelong friends passed each other in the street, eyes cast downward, busy getting back to their homes, a minimal nod their only acknowledgment- a public conversation could arouse suspicions, and suspicions were sufficing for proof these days.

Word on the street was that the old man was dead, or dying, and his brother ready to take the country in a different direction. The iron scepter with which he’d held back the march of progress for the last half century was being passed; the meek and powerful alike suspected the transition would not be without the usual saber-rattling.